Stephanie Prichard
Associate Professor & Division Coordinator, Music Education
Instrumental Music Education
sfp@umd.edu
2130B The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
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Education
B.M., Music Education, University of Maryland
M.M., Music Education, Northwestern University
Ph.D., Music Education, University of Colorado, Boulder
Research Expertise
Music Education
Appointed Fall 2013
Stephanie Prichard is associate professor of music education at the University of Maryland, where she teaches courses in instrumental music education and serves as co-advisor for the collegiate NAfME chapter. Prichard earned a Ph.D. in music education from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She holds a Bachelor of Music in music education from the University of Maryland and a Master of Music in music education from Northwestern University.
Prior to her appointment at the University of Maryland, Prichard served as graduate instructor of music education at the University of Colorado, where she taught undergraduate courses in music education and supervised student teachers. Previously, she taught elementary and middle school instrumental music in Bowie, Maryland, and Alexandria, Virginia.
Prichard is an active researcher, specializing in music teacher identity development, music teacher evaluation and music learning during the adolescent years. She regularly presents research and scholarly work at national and international symposia including meetings of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the Society for Music Teacher Education (SMTE) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Her research and writing has been published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, the Journal of Music Teacher Education, the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education and the Music Educators Journal. Prichard serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Music Teacher Education and serves on the state board of the Maryland Music Educators Association.
Publications
The Impact of Music Practice Instruction on Middle School Band Students’ Independent Practice Behaviors
Assistant Professor of Music Education Stephanie Prichard's article in the Journal of Research in Music Education.
Author/Lead: Stephanie PrichardThe purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of music practice instruction on middle school band students’ ability to articulate and incorporate practice strategies. Participants were middle school band students at a large suburban middle school (N = 105). Using a pretest–posttest quasi-experimental design, participants were divided into control (n = 53) and experimental (n = 52) groups. Participants in the experimental group received 3 weeks of practice strategy instruction during ensemble warm-up time, and the control group continued with their typical warm-up routine. Pretest and posttest data included self-reported practice strategy lists (N = 105) and video of individual practice sessions (n = 20). Both self-reported and video data were coded and analyzed using descriptive statistics as well as pretest–posttest within-groups comparisons. Thirteen hours of video data were further analyzed using an observational measure of self-regulation. Analyses revealed that experimental group participants identified and utilized significantly more practice strategies following the instructional intervention. Posttest experimental group practice sessions also revealed a more mature approach to practicing, including more strategic behaviors, greater variety in musical objectives, and longer periods spent focused on short excerpts of music. Implications for future research and middle school instrumental classroom practice are discussed.